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“There is something bright and brilliant in me. It doesn't make me feel special. It makes me terribly alone.”
― Akwaeke Emezi, Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir

“Fruitful. Lusty. Wild. Revealing. Every day a brilliant reminder of how nothing stays the same, every day an exercise in variability, resilience, and trust.

I love seasons, live for the changing seasons, could not imagine my life without seasons, but, I must admit--at the risk of offending the others-- autumn is my very favorite one.”
― Shellen Lubin

“We were singing for Dr. Du Bois' spirit, for the invaluable contributions he made, for his shining intellect and his courage. To many of us he was the first American Negro intellectual. We knew about Jack Johnson and Jesse Owens and Joe Louis. We were proud of Louis Armstrong and Marian Anderson and Roland Hayes. We memorized the verses of James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Countee Cullen, but they were athletes, musicians and poets, and White folks thought all those talents came naturally to Negroes. So, while we survived because of those contributors and their contributions, the powerful White world didn't stand in awe of them. Sadly, we also tended to take those brilliances for granted. But W.E.B. Du Bois and of course Paul Robeson were different, held on a higher or at least on a different plateau than the others.”
― Maya Angelou, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

“MAD, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual. It is noteworthy that persons are pronounced mad by officials destitute of evidence that themselves are sane. For illustration, this present (and illustrious) lexicographer is no firmer in the faith of his own sanity than is any inmate of any madhouse in the land; yet for aught he knows to the contrary, instead of the lofty occupation that seems to him to be engaging his powers he may really be beating his hands against the window bars of an asylum and declaring himself Noah Webster, to the innocent delight of many thoughtless spectators.”
― Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

“All the statistics in the world can not measure the brilliance of compassion.”
― Prof.Salam Al Shereida

“If a thousand suns
had risen
in the sky
all at once,
such brilliance
would be
the brilliance
of that great self.”
― Laurie L. Patton, The Bhagavad Gita

“The measure of brilliance is in its utility.”
― Rich DiSilvio

“She shone on the pale background of the world with the brilliance of flowers”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, Olalla

“The secret to our brilliance is that we never stop learning, and the secret to our learning is that we never stop playing.”
― Ben Orlin, Math Games with Bad Drawings: 75 1/4 Simple, Challenging, Go-Anywhere Games―And Why They Matter

“My methods are really methods of working and thinking; this is why they have crept in everywhere anonymously.”
― Emmy Noether

“A leader helps the brilliance of others shine and never allows them to be hidden in his or her shadow.”
― Jeffrey G. Duarte

“What would [James} do now? Would he think to Aiden was too much trouble for too little reward? Would the sex matter to him so much that he would discout everything else in favour of it? Aiden didn't want to think so, hoped that James would see that love was so much more than that. What was so great about sharing fluids that looked like snot anyway? What did love have to do with that? But he know by now that ninety-nine percent of the population would call that opinion world. The mathematics of the situation were not in his favour.”
― Alex Beecroft, Blue Steel Chain

“Don't just see brilliance... Feel it.”
― Adrienne Posey

“The most brilliant student in class is a god and the rest are morons.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Before You Doubt Yourself: Pep Talks and other Crucial Discussions

“You know, I would buy you a parachute if I thought it wouldn't open.”
― Groucho Marx

“Language has such power over the human mind. If one learns to use language wisely, one would be successful in all one’s ventures.”
― Anuradha Bhattacharyya, The Road Taken

“The essential in the being of a man of my type lies precisely in what he thinks and how he thinks, not in what he does or suffers.”
― Albert Einstein, Autobiographical Notes

“Maybe this doctor was one of those brilliant people who are hopeless with normal stuff like dates.”
― Liane Moriarty, What Alice Forgot

“The reputation of the best people in any field goes down to compensate for brilliance.”
― Lars Kepler, Stalker

“He invented ordinary things, and I stress, ordinary. Not brilliant, just ordinary, and that's exactly what humanity needs. Brilliant inventions might be good for brilliant people, but how many brilliant people are there? On the other hand, ordinary inventions are good for everyone.”
― Etgar Keret, The Nimrod Flipout

“Why do you devour everything?�� I said. “Look at you—Haven’t you had your fill of life yet?��

He looked at me, for all the world like an elder brother.

“It is my intention,�� he said, “to leave nothing left left over. No false reverence. I love my knees too much to dirty them by kneeling before anyone or anything.��

“Why, you pompous fool.��

“Perhaps,�� he said. “You see, we don’t kneel down before that which is worthy—to think that is to make a mistake in psychology. We kneel to make ourselves worthy. We kneel as a means of generating the true spirit of submission. Not the other way around. So it is that the weak kneel, for it empowers them. It is the slave’s religion. If Narcissus kneels, Narcissus is worthy. That is the Western deal. So he kneels wherever he can. And you, you are the greatest kneeler I have ever met. You would even kneel to me. You are a born slave—yes, born to it—for you have not even the primitive republican’s desire to question your captivity. You see yourself in the heroes of books and you feel emancipated from the tyranny of living only one life. But heroes in novels are slaves, too—which is why you identify with them; they are trapped in their fictional worlds and you are trapped in the real one. If someone gave you the key to liberate yourself from your prison you wouldn’t know what to do with it.��

"What is the key?�� I said, in spite of myself.

He paused, and gently pushed his empty glass towards me.

“B�������������Գ���.��

At that moment I despised him.”
― Simon Robson, The Separate Heart

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. Since that uniqueness needs a vehicle of expression, and since the vehicle we've been given is our body, we do what we can to keep the channel open. When you stuff or starve it, your body shuts down. It can not reveal its purpose or creativity or wisdom to you. Its uncomfortable to walk around in a body that is uncomfortable. Its hard to let innate brilliance or power express itself when you are schlepping around twenty or fifty extra pounds. Not Impossible, just more difficult. And since there is already so much inherent difficulty in being alive, why not make life easier on yourself?”
― Geneen Roth, This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide

“Upon hearing of the story of Glenn Gould, I felt an affinity with him. He spent most of his time in a cabin on Lake Simcoe, was a tremendous pianist, and later in life took obscene amounts of prescribed medications for illnesses, which may or may not have been correctly diagnosed, resultant of his brilliant, but tumultuous mind.��.”
― Michael Whone, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

“[France] may be the only country in the world where the rich are sometimes brilliant.”
― Lillian Hellman, An Unfinished Woman: A Memoir

“Sensuality is allowing your brilliance and confusion to coexist.”
― Lebo Grand

“Contrary to its association with brilliance, the reality of constant effortlessness is mediocrity. No matter how impressive it looks next to average, the true comparison was always with potential.”
― Adeel Ahmed Khan

“I have dickered over trinkets with malnourished children. I have learned what it is to become afraid of one's own cabin toilet. I have now heard—and am powerless to describe—reggae elevator music.”
― David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

“Enthusiasm... - something close to passion at times... (is) the stuff brilliance (is) made of....”
― Helen Nielsen

“Yet surely, in the world of humans, no one goes out of their way to run down a person who hasn't really made it in the world, or whose reputation is already on the wane. And no one would pause to savour the sight or the sound of some boring bird such as a kite or a crow. So, really, it's precisely because the uguisu is supposed to be such a marvellous bird that one's perversely more aware of its failings.”
― Sei Shōnagon, The Pillow Book

“Woman of Virtue

She could be as still as a statue
But unapologetically vibrant
Even in her silence
She exudes confidence
Yet so humble

She runs her race with courage
Because she has a clear picture
Of where she is going
She knows who she is
And what she wants

She understands what her worth signifies
Extremely dignified
Many odds she defies
She has influence that no one denies
No matter where she goes, she prospers

She makes life so much better
Never doubts her own power
She whose face shines brighter
Such a paragon of splendour
That recognises God’s favour

Committed to excellence
Crowned with brilliance
Clothed by abundance
Cloaked in resilience
Conquers any turbulence

She is someone I look up to
A woman of virtue”
― Gift Gugu Mona, From My Mother's Classroom: A Badge of Honour for a Remarkable Woman